Sex offender sentenced to 7 years

Thursday

A man convicted of multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and sexual exploitation is expected to serve less than four years in prison after he was sentenced Wednesday.

Ernest E. Powell Sr., 57, Knoxville, was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was given day-to-day credit for the 582 days already served in jail while awaiting trial.

A man convicted of multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and sexual exploitation is expected to serve less than four years in prison after he was sentenced Wednesday.

Ernest E. Powell Sr., 57, Knoxville, was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was given day-to-day credit for the 582 days already served in jail while awaiting trial.

In June, Powell was found guilty of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, incest and three counts of sexual exploitation stemming from three cases involving Powell’s family members.

Powell was accused of sexually fondling and abusing three family members from 2002 to 2009, two of whom were proven during Powell’s bench trial to be younger than 12 years old, prosecutors said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Elisa Tanner asked Judge Scott Shipplett to deliver the maximum 30-year sentence, which would have required all three extended-term sentences to run consecutively.

“While I argued for a harsher sentence, Judge Shipplett sentenced Powell to the maximum sentence he thought possible,” Tanner said. “Unfortunately, until the laws are changed, we are all held by the confines of what the current sentencing possibilities are, even if we don’t agree with them.”

Shipplett himself suggested that perhaps the statute should be changed to allow harsher sentencing just before imposing the seven-year sentence.

During the hearing, the court heard victim impact statements from Powell’s three victims, one of whom called Powell a “true monster.”

“He took my childhood away and he should not get away with that,” wrote one of the victims. “I’d like to say that what he did was unforgiveable, but we have to forgive in order to heal.”

Prosecutors painted a nightmarish picture of life in Ernest Powell’s home — one of repeated sexual abuse, alcohol-fueled rants and strange religious practices.

One of the victims stated that Powell would tell the children he was a prophet who could cleanse them of their sins, one time sacrificing a goat and pouring its blood on her, Tanner said.

Tanner alleged that Powell was eligible for consecutive sentences based on a statute that allows for consecutive terms if “it is of the opinion of the court that consecutive sentences are required to protect the public from further criminal conduct by the defendant.”

However, Shipplett cited the pre-sentencing investigation, where a sexual offender risk assessment rated Powell at a low risk to re-offend.

“I don’t actually agree with that,” Shipplett said. “My gut tells me he is a high risk. But I can’t sentence based on my gut.”

Shipplett also denied the request for extended-term sentencing, stating that none of the victims were younger than 12 years of age during the offenses.

Charges from the aggravated criminal sexual abuse case originally stated the events occurred in 2009, when the victim was almost 13 years old. However, it was proven during the June bench trial that the abuse took place a year before, when the victim was 11, Tanner said.

“He relied on the charging document alone, and the law is that the state need not prove that an offense was committed on the specific date charged, only that it was committed,” Tanner said. “I proved at the trial she was 11, not 12.”

The oversight resulted in a halved sentence for Powell, who could have been sentenced to 14 years for the Class 2 felony, with all three sentences running concurrently.

“These are the kinds of sentences that legislators need to pay attention to,” said Knox County Victim Advocate Stacy Dutton. “The judge did all he could with the statutes in place.”

acheung@register-mail.com

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